Magic Merida makes his mark

THE Carling Cup’s primary purpose might sometimes appear to be to clutter up an already crowded fixture list, but for the time being Arsenal are relishing the inconvenience.

Arsene Wenger’s tyros last night secured their most eye-catching scalp of recent times in this much-maligned competition, dispatching Liverpool thanks to fine goals from Fran Merida and Nicklas Bendtner.

If the latter is a familiar name to most Emirates regulars, Merida’s is less so.